back to the basics
After more or less 5 months in the hospital, my dad has seemingly taken a liking to American food. He was never one of those who refused to eat anything that wasn't Chinese, but it was all he would ever cook, and I'm pretty sure he could have gone without anything else pretty easily.
He was refusing to eat rice or congee, so assuming he wanted Western food, I made things like vegetable soup, pasta with meatballs, tacos, cornbread, macaroni… and one day he tells me actually, he doesn't want this, he isn't used to all these "weird flavors" and he just wants easy food.
I could fly off into a rage on that point, but that's not where I'm trying to go.
My mom is also not a Japanese food nazi but much more conservative in terms of flavors and basically doesn't like any spices. She likes more types of cuisine, I guess, but is ultimately interested in eating rice with everything.
So I've been making more Asian food again.
Fried shrimp with panko! This is a staple of Japanese children's meals at family restaurants, and oddly really expensive when you get it in restaurants, even with low-quality shrimp. It's hard to be okay with getting it in a restaurant after you've made it yourself… but deep-frying things is hard.
Deep-frying things is hard part 2. I made karaage (Japanese fried chicken) by myself! I burned it horribly! But it tasted really good. Other parts: green pea takikomi rice, clear mushroom soup, carrot-ume salad.
Chinese foods + Japanese takikomi rice, this time with grated and minced carrot. I wanted it to come out orange :( The others: ground pork and bell pepper stir-fry; pan-fried tofu with wood ear, onions and bell peppers; stir-fried bok chou with zha cai (pickled vegetables).
I guess I'm biased, but I think vegetables are so much more fun this way and recipes are more forgiving. There are so many easy, simple things you can do and still have lots of variation.
I'm always falling back in love with takikomi rice - putting seasonings and vegetables into the rice cooker with the rice, and ending up with something prettier and more awesome than plain rice.
After his recent surgery, my dad is, again, refusing to eat normal foods like congee and sandwiches. Now he says he's not used to Asian food anymore and his stomach can't take it.
I'm past caring.
He was refusing to eat rice or congee, so assuming he wanted Western food, I made things like vegetable soup, pasta with meatballs, tacos, cornbread, macaroni… and one day he tells me actually, he doesn't want this, he isn't used to all these "weird flavors" and he just wants easy food.
I could fly off into a rage on that point, but that's not where I'm trying to go.
My mom is also not a Japanese food nazi but much more conservative in terms of flavors and basically doesn't like any spices. She likes more types of cuisine, I guess, but is ultimately interested in eating rice with everything.
So I've been making more Asian food again.
Fried shrimp with panko! This is a staple of Japanese children's meals at family restaurants, and oddly really expensive when you get it in restaurants, even with low-quality shrimp. It's hard to be okay with getting it in a restaurant after you've made it yourself… but deep-frying things is hard.
Deep-frying things is hard part 2. I made karaage (Japanese fried chicken) by myself! I burned it horribly! But it tasted really good. Other parts: green pea takikomi rice, clear mushroom soup, carrot-ume salad.
Chinese foods + Japanese takikomi rice, this time with grated and minced carrot. I wanted it to come out orange :( The others: ground pork and bell pepper stir-fry; pan-fried tofu with wood ear, onions and bell peppers; stir-fried bok chou with zha cai (pickled vegetables).
I guess I'm biased, but I think vegetables are so much more fun this way and recipes are more forgiving. There are so many easy, simple things you can do and still have lots of variation.
I'm always falling back in love with takikomi rice - putting seasonings and vegetables into the rice cooker with the rice, and ending up with something prettier and more awesome than plain rice.
After his recent surgery, my dad is, again, refusing to eat normal foods like congee and sandwiches. Now he says he's not used to Asian food anymore and his stomach can't take it.
I'm past caring.